Welcome to nevrest's Member Page

See my Clippings See my Journal See my trade list Send me an email

In the beautiful Pipestone Valley south of the little village of Oakshela in SE Saskatchewan is a small area of almost untouched land and woods: virtually chemical-free and it has not even been pastured for more than 50 .years
The Rienks family came to this farm shortly after they emigrated from the Netherlands in 1948. Mrs. Houkje Rienks gave it the name of "Never Rest Farm" (perhaps the previous name Stoney Ridge explains why) and painted the first sign with the windmill.
Sietse has lived here ever since.
Dorothy was raised just 1 1/2 miles further east in the valley and came back to the area in 1996.
Sietse had been trapping the area for more than 40 years and Dorothy had developed an interest in herbs and living off the land. So when we reunited it was the logical choice to explore wildcrafting and herbals.
We ethically and judicially harvest the herbs, barks, roots, seeds and flowers, prudently taking only what is needed- balancing our current needs with the future of the eco-system to not only sustain growth but to allow it to flourish.
All are harvested with respect whether it be plant or animal with gratitude to Mother Earth for providing such bounty to us.
We harvest by hand so only the plants needed are taken. By hand- harvesting and manual-threshing only the most viable seeds are taken.
We are currently starting to semi-cultivate wild herbs and flowers organically.
When Dorothy arrived there was only a medium sized garden but she keeps saying...."honey, please break just a little bit more..." So now 5 years later there is a hillside garden, a woods garden, a rock garden, a nursery garden, a vegatable garden and a wide border of flowers around the house. And the 2004 gardening season is not really started here.
We grow some of the medicinals as well as "garden" herbs; ever working to expand our crop and our knowledge of the native plants and medicines.
We largely supplement the traditional vegetables, organically grown in our garden with the native plants growing wild nearby.
We strive to compliment modern medicine with our traditional folk-remedies and herbals.